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“Israel-Turkey deal is noteworthy for what it doesn’t achieve”

Gaza after “Protective Edge”. Photo by Gisha

June 29, 2016. Tania Hary, Gisha’s executive director, writes in “Haaretz” following the reconciliation agreement Israel signed with Turkey:

“Israel ‘left the Strip’, yet it still defines the kinds of dreams a girl in Gaza can dream, the kind of economy businesspeople may trade in, whether energy flows into power lines, and if the water is clean.

“It deems that Palestinians in Gaza should definitely be able to aspire to avoid a humanitarian crisis – well-being and dignity aren’t up for negotiation. They’ve long been traded out.

“The closure of Gaza entered its tenth year this month, Unravelling the economy, blocking opportunities for young people, and dividing families, not to mention various rounds of violence, over the course of a shameful near-decade have violated rights, defied any sense of decency, and also led nowhere.

“It’s particularly shameful that Netanyahu, when given yet another chance to reverse the reckless closure on Gaza, instead throws out a few chips and calls it a game.

“Last week, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called what’s happening in Gaza a ‘human tragedy’ in a speech to the European Parliament as though it fell from the sky. That’s a cop-out. It is a man-made disaster every which way you look at it.”